The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 28 Apr.

It's the end of the world as we know it...

• The Sun reports that the EU is demanding cows alter diets to reduce global warming emissions.
  
  The call came after the UN said livestock emissions were a bigger threat to the planet than transportation emissions.

• U.S. researchers have simulated half a virtual mouse brain on a supercomputer, reports BBC News.

• Fox News asks what do a plunger, a playpen, a jockstrap, fake plastic breasts, a pregnancy test and five pairs of underwear have in common?
  
  They were among nearly 260,000 items of sometimes bizarre trash that either was left or washed up on New Jersey's beaches last year. The total: about 40 tons.

• 'Mama Mike' Bloomberg is at it again. The mayor is telling New Yorkers how to live their lives. This time, he wants them to cut down on electricity. And pay a hefty price up front in the hope of saving money down the road, reports The New York Post.
  
  But Bloomberg's not just offering advice; he plans to force New Yorkers to live as he sees fit: i.e., frugally, over the long-term - and green.
  
  

  The truth is, the mayor's ideas may save New Yorkers money one day - or they may not.
  
  Like it or not, [New Yorkers] will soon be investing a hefty chunk of [their] spare funds in equipment that, like CFLs, will save us money (supposedly) later on. And that will let the city launch a "frontal assault" on global warming - even if no scientist in his right mind would argue that it'll have one iota of an impact on temperatures.

• AFP reports the demise of a call-girl ring and pending trial of an alleged madam claiming thousands of clients has Washington "riveted" by the chance powerful men may now be caught with their trousers down, with a senior state department official apparently first to fall.
  
  The funny thing is, the only ones "riveted" in Washington is the press corps -- and then only when and if the sex scandal involves Republicans.
  
  Cigar anyone?

• Speaking of Washington, AFP reports the U.S. Congress' vote to push for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq was wrong and will bring comfort to Al-Qaeda insurgents, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Friday.
  
  

  "If there is a perception of an America defeat in Iraq, that will leave the whole of the Middle East in great turmoil and will be an enormous victory for terrorism."

• Susan J. Douglas tells us why women hate Hillary.
  
  Not that long ago, feminists wanted to be treated as equals. Now, the new wave of old feminism demands a Granny "Sex in the City" approach ever so evident when Douglas concludes:
  
  

  If Hillary Clinton wants to be the first female president, then maybe, just maybe, she should actually run as a woman.

• And finally, Hogzilla, a near-mythical monster hog that roamed south Georgia, is about to get a little bigger, reports AP.
  
  

  An independent filmmaker is producing a horror movie about the super swine called "The Legend of Hogzilla," and has even enlisted the beast's killer on the set as an adviser.

Tags: Decline and Fall of Western Civ, Open Thread, Wire, Headlines, United States
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

Combat Camera: Marines Prepare Helicopters for Flight

U.S. Marines with Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 perform preflight checks on a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter prior to launching a mission from Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, April 2, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Benjamin Bayless, with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465, performs preflight checks on a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter prior to launching a mission from Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, April 2, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Timothy Lypka, an airframes aerial observer with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465, wipes down the windows of a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter prior to launching a mission from Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, April 2, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks

U.S. Marines with Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 perform preflight checks on a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter prior to launching a mission from Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, April 2, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Richard Chadwick, a flight line crew chief with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465, prepares a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter for launch at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, April 2, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Richard Chadwick, a flight line crew chief with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465, uses hand and arm signals to communicate with the pilots of a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter prior to launch at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, April 2, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Steven Sells, an airframes mechanic with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465, uses hand and arm signals to communicate with the pilots of a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter as it taxies on the flight line in preparation to launch at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, April 2, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks

A CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 flies away from Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, April 2, 2007, to conduct a mission. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks

More Combat Camera Images on THE TENSION

Collections from Amazon.com:
War Photography
Combat Photography
Military Periodicals

Tags: War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, United States, coalition, photography, photo, photos, pictures, images, photojournalism, Combat Camera, Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraq, Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, Marine Corps, USMC
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

Maintain THE TENSION, visit the online store:
THE TENSION EXCHANGE

Deadly Connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism by Daniel Byman

BOOKS IN THE NEWS

Deadly Connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism by Daniel Byman
(From the Publisher) -- Daniel Byman's hard-hitting and articulate book is the first to study countries that support terrorist groups. Focusing primarily on sponsors from the Middle East and South Asia, it examines the different types of support that states provide, their motivations, and the impact of such sponsorship. The book also considers regimes that allow terrorists to raise money and recruit without providing active support. The experiences of Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Libya are detailed here, alongside the histories of radical groups such as al-Qaida, Hizbullah and Hamas.

About the Author
Daniel Byman is Assistant Professor in the Security Program of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He has published widely on issues related to terrorism, Middle East politics, and national security. He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and has served on the staff of the "9/11 Commission", among other positions. He is the author of:
The Dynamics of Coercion: American Foreign Policy and the Limits of Military Might (Rand Studies in Policy Analysis); Keeping the Peace: Lasting Solutions to Ethnic Conflicts.

Review
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com
From Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent to The 9/11 Commission Report, Amazon.com advertises more than 5,500 books dealing with terrorism. What could possibly remain to be said on the subject?

Quite a bit, actually. In Deadly Connections, Daniel Byman has carved out a topic that apparently has not received a major book-length treatment: the relationship between terrorist groups and states that support them. In an age where the transnational al Qaeda network has proven deadlier than terrorist organizations sponsored by such rogue countries as Syria, Iran and Iraq, this provides an opportunity for some original analysis. It also imposes some very confining boundaries.

This is a serious book, aimed primarily at those who study terrorism or work at trying to stop it. Byman, a Georgetown professor and Brookings Institution fellow, writes in a clear, readable style, with the barest minimum of jargon. But his book has all the charm of a Rand Corp. report (which is where at least some of the ideas originated).

The great strengths of Deadly Connections are Byman's careful, systematic dissection of the phenomenon of state-supported terrorism and his sober and reflective conclusions, drawn directly from the evidence. He offers no silver bullet but outlines a range of tactics -- including air strikes, economic sanctions, political isolation and backing for a regime's domestic foes -- that can be mixed and matched as needed, noting sensibly that "it is easier to stop state support for terrorism before it starts than to halt backing after it begins." But there is no original research here -- no personal interviews with terrorists or new investigative revelations about the inner politics of, say, Hezbollah, the radical Lebanese militia backed by Iran and Syria. Instead, Deadly Connections depends entirely on secondary literature, which Byman uses judiciously and with great intelligence.

When one writes about the notoriously elusive topic of terrorism, definitions are important. Byman doesn't want to glibly conclude (as Rand's Brian Jenkins put it) that "terrorism is what the bad guys do." He adopts a definition of terrorism -- politically motivated violence by subnational groups deliberately targeting noncombatants, designed to produce far-reaching psychological effects -- that is rigorous but in some ways more interesting for what it excludes. He does not consider actions by agents of the state itself to be terrorism. Nor does he include attacks on military or government officials engaged in counterterrorism.

Of course, there are good reasons to distinguish between Hezbollah's attacks on Israeli civilians and its guerrilla strikes against Israeli military forces. But Byman has a hard time sticking to his own definition. He adopts the State Department position that Iran is today "the most active state sponsor of terrorism," above all for backing Hezbollah. Yet he offers not a single piece of evidence of a terrorist act (i.e., excluding attacks on military targets) launched by Hezbollah after 1994. Nor does he attempt to square this decade-long silence with then deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage's 2003 claim that Hezbollah was the "A Team" of terrorism, in some ways more capable than al Qaeda.

Similarly, Byman writes that state-sponsored terrorism, despite its changing dynamics, "has become perhaps more important" over time. But every case study in the book concludes that rogue states have found support for terrorism exorbitantly costly and reduced or terminated their sponsorship of terrorist groups. Indeed, one could write a very different book using the same material to argue that the international community has succeeded remarkably well over the past several decades in reducing state-sponsored terrorism.

Obviously, states do support -- and will continue to support -- terrorist activities by one group or another, particularly if one includes passive backing by a government that looks the other way as a terrorist group uses its territory to raise money or recruit (a syndrome Byman tackles in his valuable chapter on Saudi Arabia's ties to al Qaeda, Greece's connection to the far-left Nov. 17 organization and the U.S. experience with the Provisional Irish Republican Army). So Deadly Connections, which assembles an impressive array of information on this important dimension of terrorism today, will have reason to be consulted as the most complete reference handbook on the subject.

Buy now from Amazon.com:
Deadly Connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism by Daniel Byman

Save 10% off Amazon book prices at Buy.com:
Deadly Connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism by Daniel Byman

Tags: reviews, , books, Headlines, wire, United States, Daniel Byman, War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, coalition, Afghanistan, Iraq
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

Combat Camera: Silhouettes of Warriors

Spc. Kelly Wilson, from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, patrols Al Muradia village, Iraq. Photo by Air Force Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway; April 26, 2007

Spc. Justin Towe, from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, patrols Al Muradia village, Iraq. Photo by Air Force Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway; April 26, 2007

Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division provide an outer security cordon of Qarah Cham village as Iraqi police conduct a search. Photo by Air Force Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway; April 26, 2007

Afghan National Air Corps maintainers repair an MI-35 Hind helicopter at the Kabul International Airport flightline in Afghanistan. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo Jr.; April 26, 2007

A Soldier from the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division uses his rifle scope to investigate a suspicious vehicle approaching during a cordon and search for weapons caches and insurgents in Old Baqubah, Iraq. oto by Air Force Staff Sgt. Stacy L. Pearsall; April 26, 2007

Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, complete an operation in central Iraq. Photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika; April 26, 2007

More Combat Camera Images on THE TENSION

Collections from Amazon.com:
War Photography
Combat Photography
Military Periodicals

Tags: War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, United States, coalition, photography, photo, photos, pictures, images, photojournalism, Combat Camera, Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraq, Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, Marine Corps, USMC
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

Maintain THE TENSION, visit the online store:
THE TENSION EXCHANGE

Hillary: America Ready for "Multilingual President"

"I think America is ready for a multilingual president."
When Hillary said today, "I think America is ready for a multilingual president," she must have been thinking about the creation of a dynasty of "lingual" presidents as some would say her husband, former president Bill Clinton, was the first "cunnilingual" president.

Having myself lived in the great fly-over zone between the coasts, I can attest with some certainty that the twang spoken in the American outback is a dialect of English. Yes, despite what y'all liberals think, the twang is still a dialect and not an altogether different language.

• From The Associated Press: Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she sees her sometimes Southern accent as a virtue.
  
  "I think America is ready for a multilingual president," Clinton said during a campaign stop at a charter school in Greenville, S.C.
  
  The New York senator -- who said she's been thinking about critics who've suggested that she tried to put on a fake Southern accent in Selma, Ala. -- noted that she's split her life between Arkansas, Illinois and the East Coast.

KENTUCKY FRIED HILLARY, PART 2

KENTUCKY FRIED HILLARY, PART 1

Tags: Clinton, liberals, YouTube, Democrats, President, Election, 2008, video, Open Thread, Wire, Headlines, United States
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

Combat Camera: Joint Civilian Orientation Conference Aboard the USS Eisenhower

Members of Joint Civilian Orientation Conference 73 pose for a group photo on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. While on board the nuclear aircraft carrier the group met with sailors and witnessed several aircraft launches and recoveries while standing on deck. U.S Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Allen

Joint Civilian Orientation Conference participants stand on USS Eisenhower's flight deck to watch an F/A-18 aircraft land, April 25, 2007. This is the third day of the event-packed conference, sponsored by the Department of Defense, which brings business and educational leaders into direct contact with servicemembers. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class L. A. Shively.

Members of Joint Civilian Orientation Conference 73 land on the flight deck and prepare for their tour of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, April 25, 2007. While on board the nuclear aircraft carrier, the group observed several aircraft launches and recoveries while standing on deck. U.S Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Allen

Members of Joint Civilian Orientation Conference 73 stop to take some photos with each other after their tour of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, April 25, 2007. U.S Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Allen

IKE Hosts Joint Civilian Orientation Conference
By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Seth Scarlett
April 25, 2007
USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, At Sea – Forty-five civilian guests visited the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) April 25 as part of the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC), where they got the opportunity to see various aspects of the ship, meet with Sailors and view flight operations. Read it.

IKE is the flagship for the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which includes its embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7, embarked Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 28, guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio (CG 68), guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage (DDG 61) and guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87).

ALSO SEE
Joint Civilian Orientation Conference Aboard the USS Eisenhower Pt 2

More Combat Camera Images on THE TENSION

Tags: War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, United States, coalition, photography, photo, photos, pictures, images, photojournalism, Combat Camera, Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraq, Marines, Marine Corps, USMC, Carrier Strike Group, USS Eisenhower, JCOC, Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, NAVCENT, maritime security operation, Fifth Fleet, 5th Fleet, Navy
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

Combat Camera: U.S. Navy Ballistic Missile Flight Test

PACIFIC OCEAN (April 26, 2007) - A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) is launched from the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70), during a joint Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Navy ballistic missile flight test. Approximately three minutes later, the SM-3 intercepted a unitary (non-separating) ballistic missile threat target, launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. Within moments of this launch, the USS Lake Erie also launched a Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) against a hostile air target in order to defend herself. The test was the eighth intercept, in 10 program flight tests. The test was designed to show the capability of the ship and its crew to conduct ballistic missile defense and at the same time defend herself. This test also marks the 27th successful hit-to-kill intercept in tests since 2001. U.S. Navy photo (RELEASED)

PACIFIC OCEAN (April 26, 2007) - A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) is launched from the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70), during a joint Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Navy ballistic missile flight test. Approximately three minutes later, the SM-3 intercepted a unitary (non-separating) ballistic missile threat target, launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. Within moments of this launch, the USS Lake Erie also launched a Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) against a hostile air target in order to defend herself. The test was the eighth intercept, in 10 program flight tests. The test was designed to show the capability of the ship and its crew to conduct ballistic missile defense and at the same time defend herself. This test also marks the 27th successful hit-to-kill intercept in tests since 2001. U.S. Navy photo (RELEASED)

PACIFIC OCEAN (April 26, 2007) - USS Lake Erie launches a Standard Missile -2 (SM-2) against a hostile air target during a joint Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Navy ballistic missile flight test. The test was the eighth intercept, in 10 program flight tests, by the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, the maritime component of the "Hit-to-Kill" Ballistic Missile Defense System, being developed by the Missile Defense Agency. The test was designed to show the capability of the ship and its crew to conduct ballistic missile defense and at the same time defend herself. This test also marks the 27th successful hit-to-kill intercept in tests since 2001. U.S. Navy photo (RELEASED)

PACIFIC OCEAN (April 26, 2007) - A short range unitary (non separating) ballistic missile target is launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, as part of a joint Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Navy ballistic missile flight test. Minutes later, a Standard Missile - 3 (SM-3), launched from the Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70), intercepted the target 100 miles above the ocean, 250 miles northwest of Kaua'i. At the same time, the USS Lake Erie also launched a Standard Missile - 2 (SM-2) against a hostile air target, dropped from a Navy plane, in order to defend herself. This test also marks the 27th successful hit-to-kill intercept in tests since 2001. U.S. Navy photo (RELEASED)

Aegis BMD (FTM-11) Stellar Hunters Quick Release

First successful simultaneous engagement of a short range ballistic missile (SRBM) and a anti-air warfare (AAW) target by the Aegis BMD 3.6 Weapon System. USS Lake Erie launched and guided a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3)Blk IA missile to a successful intercept of a SRBM and a SM-2 Blk IIIA to the intercept of a low-altitude cruise missile. Approved for release 26 Apr 2007.

More Combat Camera Images on THE TENSION

Tags: War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, United States, coalition, photography, photo, photos, pictures, images, photojournalism, Combat Camera, Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraq, Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, Marine Corps, USMC, USS Lake Erie
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

Dems Debate More About `04 Than `08

Keeping an eye on Hillary.
Writing in The Washington Post, Dan Balz says Democrat presidential candidates largely set aside their differences Thursday and presented a united front of opposition to President Bush and his Iraq policy.

Note to Democrats, president Bush is not on the 2008 ballot. Folks want to hear plans not slogans. People are starting to notice that Democrats are still acting like a minority party instead of the Congressional majority.

[Democrats] found common ground in accusing Bush of making the country less safe and damaging U.S. relations abroad through foreign policy and argued that the president is ignoring the will of the American people by refusing to shift course dramatically in Iraq.

Read it.

Tags: liberals, Obama, Democrats, President, Election, 2008, Open Thread, Wire, Headlines, United States, Clinton,
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 27 Apr.

It's the end of the world as we know it...

We are asked to accept without question the notion that the United States, the most powerful nation on the planet, is overwhelmingly responsible for the coming apocalypse of climate change and therefore must bear the brunt of effort needed to combat global warming. However, the proponents of climate change theory usually hold to the notion that the United States, the most powerful nation on the planet, has lost a war and must abandon the effort because the country is not strong enough to combat terrorists and overwhelm those few who prey upon innocents in Iraq. I call it backwards logic.

• Companies and individuals rushing to go green have been spending millions on “carbon credit” projects that yield few if any environmental benefits. Some are even calling sales of carbon credits fraudulent.
  
  A Financial Times investigation has uncovered widespread failings in the new markets for greenhouse gases, suggesting some organisations are paying for emissions reductions that do not take place.
  
  

  Some companies are benefiting by asking “green” consumers to pay them for cleaning up their own pollution. For instance, DuPont, the chemicals company, invites consumers to pay $4 to eliminate a tonne of carbon dioxide from its plant in Kentucky that produces a potent greenhouse gas called HFC-23. But the equipment required to reduce such gases is relatively cheap. DuPont refused to comment and declined to specify its earnings from the project, saying it was at too early a stage to discuss.

• The current debate about global warming is "completely irrational," and people need to start taking a different approach, say two Ottawa scientists.
  
  The Standard-Freeholder reports Carleton University science professor Tim Patterson said global warming will not bring about the downfall of life on the planet.
  
  

  "I think the proof in the pudding, based on what (media and governments) are saying, (is) we're about three quarters of the way (to disaster) with the doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere," said Patterson. "The world should be heating up like crazy by now, and it's not. The temperatures match very closely with the solar cycles."

  Patterson explained CO2 is not a pollutant, but an essential plant food.
  
  Billions of taxpayers' dollars are spent to control the emissions of this benign gas, in the mistaken belief that they can stop climate change, he said.

• Newsday.com reports a flock of small jets took flight from Washington Thursday, each carrying a Democratic presidential candidate to South Carolina for the first debate of the political season.
  
  

  No one jet pooled, no one took commercial flights to save money, fuel or emissions.

• The Senate approved a $124 billion Iraq war spending bill yesterday that would force troop withdrawals to begin as early as July 1. Reuters reports Iraqis are glad U.S. soldiers could soon depart but fearful of what they might leave behind, after the U.S. Congress approved a bill linking troop withdrawals to war funding.
  
  

  "U.S. forces have to leave Iraq but not now," said Abu Ali, a 47-year-old trader from the southern city of Basra, on Friday.
  
  "The Iraqi government and its security forces are unable to control security, especially in Baghdad and its neighborhoods."

• Calling Sheryl Crow "a high profile proponent of the destruction of innocent lives," Reuters reports the Roman Catholic archbishop of St. Louis resigned as head of a children's medical charity that featured the singer for a benefit concert.
  
  

  Archbishop Raymond Burke resigned as chairman of the Cardinal Glennon Children's Foundation after its board of governors refused to pull the plug on Crow's Saturday concert in St. Louis.
  
  She is "well-known as an abortion activist" and proponent of stem cell research, he said in a statement on Wednesday, and her appearance is "an affront to the identity and mission of the medical center, dedicated as it is to the service of life and Christ's healing mission."

• A man was held Wednesday on charges that he performed dental work on customers without a license in his "filthy" garage, authorities said. Roger Bean, 60, was arrested Tuesday and held on $6,000 bond, according to The Associated Press.

• Chicago police Thursday released portions of an essay used to charge a Cary-Grove High School student with disorderly conduct, leaving several experts puzzled at an arrest based on such schoolwork.
  
  The Chicago Sun-Times reports: Asked to write about whatever he wanted in a creative writing class, would-be Marine and honors student Allen Lee, 18, described a violent dream in which he shot people and then "had sex with the dead bodies."

Tags: Decline and Fall of Western Civ, Open Thread, Wire, Headlines, United States
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

Combat Camera: Cavalry Soldiers Engage Insurgents

Spc. Steven M. Devries, a medic assigned to the 1st Platoon, Company B, 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and an Iraqi army soldier assigned to the 5th Iraqi Army Division, take cover from small arms fire behind a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, March 28, 2007, in the Tahrir neighborhood of Baqubah, Iraq. Soldiers of the 1st Platoon Company B and Iraqi soldiers encountered sporadic fire for about two hours during a house-clearing mission in Tahrir. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico

Spc. Steven M. Devries, a medic assigned to the 1st Platoon, Company B, 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, points the direction that small arms fire came from to a fellow soldier, March 28, 2007, in the Tahrir neighborhood of Baqubah, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico

A soldier assigned to the 1st Platoon, Company B, 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, guards a street in the neighborhood of Tahrir in Baqubah, Iraq, March 28, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico

Pvt. Eric Rundquist and Pvt. Jason Taylor, both assigned to the 1st Platoon, Company B, 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, hold on to a strap inside a Bradley Fighting Vehicle after the Bradley hit a roadside bomb. The soldiers were en route to the Forward Operating Base Gabe medical station after one of their fellow soldiers was injured when they encountered sporadic sniper fire for about two hours during a house-clearing mission in the Tahrir neighborhood of Baqubah, March 28, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico

Spc. Orlando Jesus Garcia, 1st Platoon, Company B, 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and an Iraqi soldier with the 5th Iraqi Army Division await news, outside the Forward Operating Base Gabe aid station, on the condition of two soldiers injured during a firefight in the neighborhood of Tahrir, March 28, 2007. One American soldier and one Iraqi soldier were injured when soldiers of 1st Platoon, Company B, and the Iraqi army encountered sporadic small arms fire for about two hours during a house clearing mission in the neighborhood of Tahrir in Baqubah, Iraq, March 28, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico

More Combat Camera Images on THE TENSION

Tags: War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, United States, coalition, photography, photo, photos, pictures, images, photojournalism, Combat Camera, Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraq, Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, Marine Corps, USMC
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

Combat Camera: Guard Force Secures Camp

The provost marshal's office was called to the entry control point after illegal contraband was found on a third country national, at Camp Ripper in Al Asad, Iraq, April 15, 2007. The interior guard force is responsible for maintaining order and protecting both the people and property. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam Johnston

Sgt. Eric M. Simmons, the Regimental Combat Team 2 interior guard chief, uses his radio to communicate with Marines at the entry control point at Camp Ripper in Al Asad, Iraq, April 15, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam Johnston

The provost marshal's office was called to the entry control point after illegal contraband was found on a third country national at Camp Ripper in Al Asad, Iraq, April 15, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam Johnston

Lance Cpl. Felipe A. Marin, a tactical data network specialist assinged to the Headquarters Company, Regimental Combat Team 2, receives a certificate of commendation for “superior performance of duty while serving as a member of the Camp Ripper guard force” at Camp Ripper in Al Asad, Iraq, April 15, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam Johnston

A cell phone, video game console and AK-47 part were found upon closer inspection of the third country national's belongings at Camp Ripper in Al Asad, Iraq, April 15, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam Johnston

Lance Cpl. Jose F. Rivera, an infantryman with Headquarters Company, Regimental Combat Team 2, clears a vehicle for entry after verifying the driver's credentials at Camp Ripper in Al Asad, Iraq, April 15, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam Johnston

Lance Cpl. Desjar M.L. Johnson, a tactical data network specialist assigned to the Headquarters Company, Regimental Combat Team 2, checks a third country national's identification before allowing him to enter the base at Camp Ripper in Al Asad, Iraq, April 15, 2007. The interior guard force is responsible for maintaining order and protecting both the people and property aboard Camp Ripper. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam Johnston

More Combat Camera Images on THE TENSION

Tags: War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, United States, coalition, photography, photo, photos, pictures, images, photojournalism, Combat Camera, Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraq, Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, Marine Corps, USMC
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

On the Road

I'm currently in Savannah, Georgia. I hope to resume regular posting soon.

Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension